CLASS 4740 - Materiality in Ancient Art

(crosslisted)
(also ARTH 4740) (CA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Co-meets with ARTH 6740/CLASS 7740.

V. Platt.

This course will focus on the importance of media such as marble, bronze, clay, ivory and gems in ancient visual culture. We will examine the relationship between materials, technology, style and subject matter across a range of contexts, such as the role by played by bronze in the development of Greek naturalism; the influence of chryselephantine techniques on depictions of the gods; the relationship between colored marbles and the iconography of empire; and the use of precious and semi-precious stones as personal seals. Throughout, our emphasis will not only be on the relationship between medium and facture, but also on the phenomenological qualities of different materials and their influence on ancient habits of viewing and representation.
As the second class to be taught as part of the Yale-Cornell Consortium for the Study of Ancient Art, this course will also bring students of both institutions together in a mini conference to be held at Cornell University, with renowned classical art historian François Lissarrague as keynote speaker.